A Volksmarch in Bavaria

On a misty morning I woke up early and started a pot of coffee. It had been a late night out with my buddies trading shots of Ouzo while celebrating the end of another long week of grunt work. I asked myself why I had agreed to give up sleeping-in on this Saturday. One of my buds had convinced me to get up and go with him to something called a “volksmarch.” I had never heard of such a thing, but being eighteen years old there were alot of things in that category for me. He assured me that we were going to have fun and I had come to trust his judgement about such things, but still ….

My friend picked me up and we drove out to a parking area near the edge of one of the large forests outside of town. A stream of people were checking in at an event table and making their way down a rustic dirt road into the forest. We checked in at the “4th Annual Volksmarch” and picked up a card that had several places on it to get a stamp as we proceeded on the hike. We started down the road together with some friendly “locals” who we didn’t know, but who happened to get there at the same time as us. It was great to get to meet some friendly locals — sometimes I wasn’t quite sure what the locals made of us foreigners. The haze cleared from both the sky and from my brain as we walked through the forest. There would occasionally be a checkpoint where we got our card stamped, and there would be beer, bratwursts, and other refreshments. It was an excellent day of enjoying nature, exercise, and some unexpected new friends.

click for interactive route map

Fast-forward thirty-eight years and I am back in that same town approaching the start point for the town of Kitzingen’s 41st annual volksmarch. My mind flashed back to that first volksmarch experience and my years in Kitzingen many decades ago. No Ouzo last night so my head was clear and I had been awake for a couple hours. I had enjoyed visiting old haunts and familiar places the prior day. I was a teenage soldier in those days — part of a large detachment stationed at the town. Now days the Americans are all gone and there is an effort to try to convert the vacant bases for civilian uses.

2 thoughts on “A Volksmarch in Bavaria”

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, but have somehow missed out on this whole Volksmarsch thing. As a matter of fact, the first I heard of it was yesterday when someone mentioned it in the German Brewing Facebook group. And now I come across it here again today. A sure sign that I need to go on one and find out more about what looks like a fascinating cultural event. Cheers!